Highway road guard



2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

ATTORNEYS,

R. B. TUFTS mmkrsil July 23, 1935.

HIGHWAY ROAD GUARD Filed June 27, 1953 July 23, 1935. R. B. TUFTS HIGHWAY ROAD GUARD Filed June 27, 1933 '2 Sheets-Sheet 2 All INVENTOR.

H M [3 Q W97 ATTORNEYS. v

Patented July 23, 1935 UNITED STATES HIGHWAY ROAD GUARD Robert B. Tufts, Atlanta, Ga., assignor of onehalf to T. D. Meador, Atlanta, Ga.

Application June 27, 1933, Serial No. 677,909

10 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in highway road guards and the primary purpose of the invention is to provide a guard of rugged and strong construction, one that allows for expansion and contraction due to temperature changes, that may be manufactured with little or no special equipment; the various parts being either stand ard articles of commerce or ones that can easily be made by machine shops and foundries, and one that is reasonably cheap in cost and that can be readily and inexpensively repaired in case of damage.

Another object of the invention is to provide a road guard including special shields for protecting parts of the guard and which are designed to guide the parts of moving vehicles away from the guard in case a vehicle should contact with the same.

With the foregoing objects outlined and with other objects in view which will appear as the description proceeds, the invention consists in the novel features hereinafter described in detail, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

I Figs. 1 and 2 are an elevation and plan respectively of my improved road guard with the posts shown much closer spaced than to scale.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged elevation of a detail, partly broken away and illustrating the means for attaching one end of the guard to an end post.

Fig. 4 is a similar view of a medial portion of the guard and illustrating the means for connecting adjacent ends of the rails.

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the structures shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 6 is an elevation of one of the rails.

Fig. '7 is an elevation of a detail of the means for connecting adjacent ends of two of the rails.

Fig. 8 is an end view of a portion of the structure shown in Fig. 7. v

Figs. 9 and 10 are an elevation and end view respectively of a bolt forming part of the structure illustrated in Fig. '7. v

Figs. 11 and 12 are an elevation andplan view respectively illustrating the means for connecting the rails to a post having right angular surfaces arranged at acute angles to the rails.

- Figs. 13 and 14 are views similar to Figs. 11 and 12 showing means for connecting cables or the like to a post having right angular surfaces arranged at different angles relatively to the cables and minus shields for protecting obstructions.

Referring first to Figs. 1 and 2, n designates an end post and m an intermediate post of the improved guard, and each end post is preferably braced by a piece of suitable material 0. These posts are, of course, embedded in the ground along the side of the road to be protected and they support rails 11. In accordance with the invention each of these rails is of hair pin shape and the ends of each rail, with the exception of the end rails, are connected to the loop portions of adjacent rails by suitable connecting devices, as best shown in Figs. 4, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 10. Such means includes a metal casting b having a pair of holes u in which the ends of one rail are secured by any suitable fastening means, such as screws e. Between the holes, the casting has a slot t to receive the looped portion of an adjacent rail and such looped portion is secured to the casting by arranging a Washer v on the shank of a bolt 0 which is provided with a coil spring that is arranged between the washer and the head of the bolt. The head of the bolt is preferably provided with an arch-shaped surface to conform with the inner surface of the looped portion of the rail, and the spring d not alone acts as a shock absorber, but accommodates expansion and contraction of the rails.

The end rails, as best shown in Fig. 3, are connected to the post n by similar fastening devices but in this instance long bolts Q take the place of the bolts 0 and the bolts Q extend through the end post and their nuts are used for securing them to the end post.

For the purpose of tying the rails to the intermediate posts, I prefer to useplates f formed of rugged resilient metal and the inner end portions of such plates are secured to the posts m by means of bolts P, as illustrated in Figs. 11 and 12. It will be noted that the right angular front surfaces of each post m are arranged at acute angles to the rails, so that the plates 1 may be bolted to a fiat side of the post and this will increase the resiliency of the outer end of the plate. That end of the plate is arranged parallel to the rails and may be secured to the latter by means of U-bolts g.

Instead of having the angular front faces of the posts at 45 angles to the rails, I may place the posts s at a different angle as shown in Figs. 13 and 14, and in this instance the resilient plate will be provided with an inclined .extension 1' positioned at an acute angle relatively to the cables A.

In order to protect vehicle parts from obstructions on the guard and to guide parts of moving vehicles away from the guard, I provide the guard with suitable shields h, 7' and it. Each shield h, as best shown in Figs. 11 and 12, is formed of a piece of resilient sheet metal and is preferably of W-shape in plan. In this instance the U-bolts 9 pass through the valley portion of the plate while the rails a pass through the wings of the plate.

Each shield 7' is, substantially V-shaped in pla and it conceals certain of the fastening devices from the front and has holes in its wings to accommodate the rails a.

' Each shield k is similar to the shield 7 but in this instance one wing is considerably longer than the other and the holes through which the rails extend, are arranged in the long wing.

In all of these shields it will be noted that the wings for guide surfaces -or ramps are so arranged that if a portion of a passing vehicle should come in contact with a shield, it will be guided outwardly toward the road and will thus not alone be safe from damage but will prevent it from damaging the guard.

While the guard, shown in Figs. 1 to 12 inclusive, has an upper and lower rail element presenting four bars, it is evident that in some cases the lower bars may be dispensed with.

My road guard as described, lends itself to the use of any kind of posts, roundor rectangular, but I prefer to use rectangular posts with outer surfaces arranged at acute angles relatively to the rails. In Figs. 12 and 13 these faces are positioned at angles of 45 relatively to the rails while in Fig. 14 they are placed at angles different from 45.

With further reference to the brackets or plates f, it will be noted that each bracket can be of proper width to provide an offset distance between the rails and the posts and to provide some resiliency in a direction-normal to the direction of the rails as well as in a direction parallel to the rails; this resiliency depending upon the amount of the offset, the thickness of the plate and the material of the plate. It is clear that the problem of giving resiliency'to the connection between the rail and the post is much simplified by setting the posts with their front faces at approximately 45 relatively to the rails instead of at right angles thereto.

In Figs. 13 and 14 which show a modification of the bracket and with the shield h dispensed with, the plate itself will present two inclined deflecting surfaces extending forwardly from the backs of the rails, so that projecting parts of a car sliding along the rails-from either direction will be deflected and thrown off of the post. This bracket is suited to rail elements of the kind shown in Figs. 1 to 12 inclusive or to one or more round or flat cables or to steel ribbons. Furthermore, it is a very economical construction.

Referring again to Fig. 1, note that the connections for the bars (Figs. 4 to '7) could be placed close to the post and the deflector 71. could be made wide enough to cover the bar connections, in

which case a plate 1 could be used mid-way be-.

tween posts but could be made of less width for the sole purpose of acting as a bar spacer to prevent undue separation of the bars for long spans; the spacer a presenting the inclined surfaces or wings rearwardly of the rail elements to guide toward the road, any car parts coming into contact with the spacer.

From the foregoing it is believed that the structure and advantages of the invention may be readily understood and it is manifest that changes may be made in the details disclosed without departing from the spirit of the invention, and expressed in the claims.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

and means including a resilient connection for joining the rails to said bracket.

2. In a road guard, a pair of substantially'hair pin shaped rails, the looped portion of onerail extending between the ends of the adjacent rail, a bracket through which the ends of one rail extend and through which the looped portion of the other rail extends, means fixedly securing the ends of one rail to the bracket, and resilient means for securing the looped portion of the other rail to the bracket.

3. In a road guard, a pair of substantially hair pin shaped rails, the looped portion of one rail extending between the ends of the adjacent rail, a bracket through which the ends of one rail extend and through which the looped portion of the other rail extends, means fixedly securing the ends of one rail to the bracket, and resilient means for securing the looped portion of the other rail to the bracket, the last mentioned means comprising a bolt having its head engaging the looped portion of one rail, the shank of the bolt extending into a hole in the bracket, a washer on the shank, and a spring on the shank between the washer and the head of the bolt.

4. In a road guard, post supported rail elements arranged end to end, a connecting bracket securing adjacent rail elements to one another, and a deflecting shield having inclined wings through which the rail elements pass, said wings being arranged at opposite sides of said bracket.

5. In a road guard, a post, rail elements supported by said post and having obstructions, shields having deflecting wings protecting said obstructions, and means spaced from said post for securing said shields to said rail elements.

6. In a road guard, a post, rail elements supported by said post, shields, and means spaced from said post for securing said shields to said rail elements, each shield having inclined wings wings and secured to said post, 'a shield, and

means spaced from the post for securing said bracket and shield to said rail elements.

9. In a road guard, a post, rail elements supported by said post, a bracket secured to said post and having deflecting wings, means spaced from said post for securing one end of one of said wings to said rail elements, and a shield arranged adjacent said last mentioned means and having inclined wings through which said rail elements pass.

10. In a road guard, a post, rail elements supported by said post, a resilient sheet metal bracket secured to said post and having deflecting wings, means spaced from said post for securing one end of one of said wings to said rail elements, and a shield arranged adjacent said last mentioned means and having inclined wings through, which said rail elements pass. 

